A Kickstarter project to crowdfund the development of an N Gauge Pendolino

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FAQs

If you have any questions about the project please have a look through the FAQs below, or feel free to get in touch with us using the “Contact Us” link in the menu.

There are still some commercial and specification details that we have yet to finalise so if there is any information missing from the FAQs it is because we have not yet finalised the details. We will continuously update the FAQs as we get more information.

The £255 gets you a complete train! This compares favourably with putting together a loco hauled Mark 3 set or a complete HST rake. Furthermore backers of the project will benefit greatly in this reduced price of £255 as the RRP of a full set is expected to be £320+.

If the project is successfully funded the units will be produced and delivered to the backers of the project. The tooling be owned by Rapido Trains Inc. Rapido will then be free to use the tooling for future runs, though not for at least 2 years after the initial run. The initial run set numbers will not be repeated and the RRP is likely to increase from £255 by at least 25%.

Absolutely not! The funding model for the project relies on crowdfunding – essentially anyone who wants the project to go ahead is able to invest in the project and in return receive rewards. The funding model is all or nothing – if we do not meet the funding target the project will fail. If you wait for other people to commit then the chances of success are greatly reduced.

Finance / Kickstarter (7)

The Kickstarter pledges are for what we think will be the most popular options. Kickstarter’s website will not let you select multiple rewards, however if you would like to pledge for more than one set then you can either:

– pick one of the pre-configured bundles eg 2 x 9-car sets; or

– click on the “Back this project” button on Kickstarter’s site, then add together the combined cost of all the rewards you would like and finally add the P&P for the most expensive item you pick. Enter the total as your pledge amount.

2 sets P&P to the UK is £15 (not £20) or the EU £25

3 sets P&P to the UK is £20 or the EU £30

4 sets P&P to the UK is £25 or to the EU £35

If you send us a message once you have pledged to confirm which rewards you want it will save us emailing you later to ask!

If you are not sure what the total amount will be then please get in contact with us and we will let you know.

We hope that you will understand that we have agreed with Rapido that Rapido will be handling sales outside Europe directly – please go to Rapido’s website at http://www.rapidotrains.com/pendolino2.html to place an order. Whether you pledge through Kickstarter (EU) or pre-order through Rapido (Rest of the World) everyone will pay the same price (apart from variations in P&P) and be eligible to vote for set numbers.

Kickstarter is a form of crowdfunding and is a new way to fund creative products. Project creators set a funding goal and deadline. If people like a project, they can pledge money to make it happen. Funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing — projects must reach their funding goals to receive any money. All-or-nothing funding might seem scary, but it’s amazingly effective in creating momentum and rallying people around an idea.

The Kickstarter campaign will start at 10pm on 19 November 2014 and will close at 10pm on Sunday 18 January 2015.

We have finalised the specifications and have we have been trying to publicise the project as widely as possible in advance as the Kickstarter campaing will only have a limited timespan. Please sign up to our newsletter to make sure we can keep you informed of all the latest developments.

If the campaign is successful then the funds will be transferred to a dedicated bank account for the project. The project team (Ben and Mike) will then authorise payments to the manufacturer at pre-agreed activity-based milestones eg CAD design completion, tooling, production etc.

11 thoughts on “FAQs”

Hi……….. 3 questions please regarding N Pendolino
1….. For the many people without overheads, requiring a drag; will a dummy pendo be available ?
as a complete pendo ?….. as a dummy replacement drive coach ? (so allowing both options)
current day drag option is the DRS class 57 with Delner, NB, the odds on your motor and the 57 motor being compatible by chance should be pretty slim !
2….. Will the inter coach connections/couplings be of fragile nature or conventional or of your own design but not delicate ?
3….. If the RRP is likely to rise to £350 each but you say all we pay is our pledge of £250, isn’t this misleading, please clarify ?
Note, you talk about possibly tilting ! ! ! in N ! ! peoples layout tilt tightness curves are almost always trying to be hidden at each end of the board, what’s the point ?
Lot of investment for not much gain……………..

These are from my friend and I, we are both rather dubious at the moment but interested

1. Full details of the options we are proposing to produce are available on our website at: http://www.ngaugependolino.com/project-updates/
The intention is not to provide dummy sets as it would mean tooling a completely new driving coach for a relatively few sales. From a combination of the split set eg 2 x set 2 and 1 x set 3 you could create an unpowered set but it would not be 100% correct in terms of the coaches.
2. The inter coach connections we haven’t decided exactly what style they will be yet, though we have no intention of anything flimsy or difficult to connect.
3. The £350 RRP is the price that the manufacturer will charge after the first run (assuming that the tooling is re-run). Basically the reward for taking the risk on the first run is that you get the sets at practically cost price of £250. If we do not get sufficient orders no one will be charged and the Pendolino will not be produced.

Tilt – we have been investigating the possibilities and have not made a decision yet (which is why we have been canvassing opinion). The option would be mechanically simple and follow the mechanism that Fleischmann use on their ICE sets.

After this project and if it proceeds, is there a likelyhood of producing further items such as the Javelin, any modern EMUs 375, 325 etc or will this be the only project?.
Graham Farish et al only seem interested in re doing the same items mainly Steam locos and the Diesel section is the same re hash of old models, for this Hobby to go on it needs modern items to gain interest from younger Modellers.

The news item in this month’s Rail Express mentions that the driving cars will be designed so that they can be coupled to a loco to model the unit being dragged (and helpfully Farish is releasing a 57/3 in DRS livery shortly) – how do you plan to do this? Will the front faring of the Pendolino unclip to be replaced by one with a slot in it allowing a standard NEM-socket rapido to be fitted?
Thanks

The agreement we have with Rapido is that we will take pledges through the Kickstarter campaign for the EU and that Rapido will take pre-orders for the rest of the world. The end result will be that everyone pays the same price at the till (except for variations in P&P or any taxes which we can’t control). Rapido’s pre-order page can be found here: http://rapidotrains.com/pendolino2.html

Bill, buddy, here in the UK we are lucky to be able to get any NEW Modern stuff at all, apart from Dapol doing brilliant new models Farish is not doing anything other than re hash Steam Locos and Diesels although we were lucky with the Desiros . Like I have already mentioned if the Hobby is to go on it needs the Xbox gen to take an interest and to do this we need items like the Penderlino. It is early stages yet but I am sure EX pats should be able to source one of these Trains as with any item on Ebay etc.